Software

Every time I enter my office, I have to walk around a row of file cabinets. Meticulously captioned, labeled and organized are nearly 150,000 slides. Blood, sweat and tears went into creating that database of chromes.
How times have changed! Next to my row of file cabinets is an 8 TB RAID drive with nearly 200,000 images—four years of images packed...
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Focused tools to simplify and automate the fine art of portrait retouching

By Wes Pitts

For some photographers, retouching portraits in Photoshop is part of the fun. For others, especially pros working through large image sets from multiple portrait sittings, retouching can become a grinding chore. If manual retouching sounds like all work and no play, consider investing in software that specializes in streamlining common portrait corrections....
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Seven popular applications for converting your color images to monochrome

By Ashley Myers-Turner

Though any good photo editor will include tools for black-and-white conversion, plug-ins and specialty apps go a step further for more control and additional special effects that can add an extra creative dimension to your images if you do a lot of black-and-white work. Here are some of the most popular apps with specialized capabilities for black-and-white...
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Everyone wants to look their best (and maybe a little better) in photographs.

By The Editors

Everyone wants to look their best (and maybe a little better) in photographs. Whether you’re working on a self-portrait or an image of a friend or client, retouching photos of people is a fine art, and done manually, takes a lot of skill and practice to get right.
Specialized retouching software like PortraitPro 12 makes it easy, and you don’t...
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Keep all your flight, hotel, car transportation and meeting information in one place with WorldMate.

By Ashley Myers-Turner

WorldMate
Keep all your flight, hotel, car transportation and meeting information in one place with WorldMate. By simply forwarding your confirmation information to the app, WorldMate organizes a complete itinerary for you to share publicly on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, or privately with friends, family and coworkers. In addition to the minute-by-minute...
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Historically, photo software could be divided into three basic types: organizers, editors and special-effects filters.

By The Editors

Historically, photo software could be divided into three basic types: organizers, editors and special-effects filters. Over the years, the lines have blurred, with each type adding functions from the other two. onOne Software’s Perfect Photo Suite 8 is an example of all three types coming together in one package. Eight apps, organized into Modules,...
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One of the reasons why it’s possible for Pixelmator to deliver so much for so little is that it harnesses technologies already built into OS X, like Core Image.

By Wes Pitts

If you use a Mac for photo editing, Pixelmator is definitely an app to check out. For an astoundingly affordable price—$29 via the Mac App Store—it offers a very robust toolset that competes with applications several times its price. One of the reasons why it’s possible for Pixelmator to deliver so much for so little is that it harnesses technologies...
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Unlike analog film photography, in the digital era, photographers generally shoot in color and then convert their images to black-and-white using digital software.

By Ashley Myers-Turner

Unlike analog film photography, where you would choose either color or black-and-white film before even touching your other camera settings, in the digital era, photographers generally shoot in color and then convert their images to black-and-white using digital software. While many experienced black-and-white photographers previsualize their images...
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These smartphone apps will help you stay organized, get translations, find local hot spots and store or share your images as you go.

By Ashley Myers-Turner

Whether you’re taking a world trip to explore new cultures or simply visiting family and bringing your camera along for the ride, these smartphone apps will help you stay organized, get translations, find local hot spots and store or share your images as you go.
When you’re in a different country with a new language, you can turn...
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For some photographers, Photoshop is an essential part of their workflow.

By Kim Castleberry

For some photographers, Photoshop is an essential part of their workflow. But for many others, the program offers a lot of features that aren’t needed. Adobe takes care of those of us who fall into that group with Photoshop Elements. In version 11, the basic framework remains the same, with a separate organizer application. Building on the different...
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And one tool that really helps me be a better photographer is my iPhone.

By Tom Bol

As a photographer, I want every advantage I can get to create great images. I buy the best equipment I can afford, practice my lighting skills until the wee hours of the night and log 18,000 road miles a year searching for great images. I try to practice what I preach in my workshops; you have to get out and shoot to become a better photographer. And...
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Nik Software’s HDR Efex Pro 2 is one of the top applications for creating high-dynamic-range images, and the new version upgrades the original in many ways.

By Wes Pitts

Nik Software’s HDR Efex Pro 2 is one of the top applications for creating high-dynamic-range images, and the new version upgrades the original in many ways. The most important change is an improved tone-mapping engine—which means the software does a better job rendering color and tonality, making more natural-looking HDR images possible.
You...
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